Snowboarding is a sport which can be visually compared to skateboarding and surfing, except it is done on snow. Snowboard skiing is the legal name for snowboarding, which thereby affords snowboarding all the privileges and liabilities of alpine skiing. To snowboard, the rider stands on the board with the left or right foot forward. Both feet are directed toward the same side of the board. The feet are attached to the board via high-back or plate bindings which are non-releasable. Although there is at least one manufacturer of releasable bindings, they are not widely used.
Snowboarding has gained in popularity during the last 10 years. It was pioneered in the late 1970's by a group of individuals with credit going to Jake Burton and Tom Sims. Both individuals head snowboard manufacturers, with Burton being the largest snowboard manufacturer. The cost of snowboard equipment is comparable to ski equipment.
Major competitions utilizing snowboarding equipment are organized, involving major sponsorships, television coverage, and world-class athletes. Competitions include downhill speed runs, slalom races, half-pipe, and freestyle performances. Four major categories of snowboards have been developed and designed, including race, alpine, all-around/free-riding, and half-pipe/freestyle.
Several different types of binding systems are known in the art, as represented by the binding systems shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,354,088; 5,236,216; 5,190,311; 5,044,654; 4,964,649; 4,871,337. Two types of bindings are most commonly used in snowboarding: the high-back and the plate. The high-back binding is characterized by a vertical plastic back piece which is used to apply pressure to the heel-side of the board. This binding has two straps which extend over the foot, with one strap applying pressure to the heel region and the other applying pressure to the toe region. Some high-back bindings also have a third strap (a “shin strap”) on the vertical back piece, which gives additional support and aids in toe side turns. The plate, or step-in, binding is used with a hard shell boot much like a ski binding, but it is non-releasable.
Snowboard boot bindings typically include a rotational adjustment which allows the user (i.e., the “rider”) to adjust the relative angular position of the boot binding relative to the longitudinal axis of the snowboard, thereby allowing the user to set the bindings in a position of personal comfort. For example, if a user likes to ride with the left leg forward on the snowboard, then the boot binding will typically be adjusted so that the user's foot (toes) points to the user's right relative to the longitudinal axis of the snowboard. Similarly, if a user rides with the right leg forward, the boot binding will usually be adjusted so that the toes point to the user's left. The amount of the rotational adjustment varies greatly as a function of individual preference.
For different events, the desired rotational adjustment may vary significantly. For instance, during speed runs such as Giant Slalom (GS), the snowboarder may prefer to have both feet oriented more straight ahead. For other events such as freestyle, the desired angle may be one in which the feet are oriented more perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. According to the publication “Transworld Snowboarding,” the average stances of pro riders from different snowboarding disciplines are as follows (with widths in inches, center being inches back from center, length in cm, and angles in degrees relative to the perpendicular to the longitudinal axis):
StanceFrontRearBoardwidthangleangleCenterlengthNotesHalf-pipe20.7″ 172 0.5″ back152.5 cmsomeboardersusenegativerearangles(duck-stance)Freeride21.1″ 227 1.7″ back  170 cmSlalom17″  49.247.2 0.4″ back156.8 cmGS17″  49.647.60.44″ back164.9 cmSuper G17.16″49.447.40.45″ back170.5 cmSlopeStyle21.3″ 120  1″ back152.9 cm0 rearon allriders(alsoknownasfreestyle)
Presently, snowboard bindings cannot be rotated and locked at different angular positions without using hand tools. Bindings are secured to the board by either inserts or a retention plate. Inserts consist of a nut built into the board, with a machine screw being used to secure the binding. With the retention plate system, a sheet metal screw is used after tapping a hole into the board. It is referred to as a retention plate because a metal plate is built into the board where the board will be tapped. In use, the commercially available boot bindings are typically screwed or bolted to the board using a round disk and one of two-hole patterns: a three-hole pattern shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,689 to Carpenter et al., or a four-hole pattern. Each pattern provides four different positions or settings for stance adjustment of each binding.
With either hole pattern method, the user must first remove the boot from the binding and then loosen the series of screws, typically with a screwdriver, so the binding can be rotated and repositioned at the desired angle. The screws must be retightened to lock the binding in place and the user can then reinsert the boot into the binding. Such an operation is time consuming and inconvenient for the snowboarder. It would be impractical to require a snowboarder to repeatedly perform such a field operation in a single day. This is particularly true given the high cost of ski-lift tickets and the overall desire by riders to maximize the number of runs performed during any given day.
Most people who use snowboards recreationally prefer to have the front foot positioned at a large angle (e.g. approximately 45 degrees or more) with respect to the longitudinal axis of the snowboard. After snowboarding down the slope, the user typically releases the rear boot and pushes along with the free foot to move the snowboard. Such action is similar to that provided by a skateboarder to move forward on flat surfaces, and hence is called “skating.” If enough speed can be achieved via skating, the snowboarder can “glide” by placing the rear foot on the stomp pad which is attached between the bindings. However, unlike skateboarding where both feet are free, the snowboarder's front foot is fixed at an awkward and inconvenient angle, thereby making it difficult to achieve efficient forward locomotion.
Additionally, the inconvenient angle of the user's foot poses a problem when the snowboarder mounts and dismounts the ski lift. When sitting down and extending the legs forward, the angle of the fixed foot causes the snowboard to interfere with adjacent passengers on the ski lift. This causes the snowboarder to uncomfortably twist a foot and/or leg and/or body sideways to compensate for the angle of the snowboard. This is particularly unacceptable in light of the long ride time on many ski lifts.
In recent years, the popularity of snowboarding and wakeboarding has grown at a tremendous rate. To draw more people into the sport of snowboarding, more convenient and comfortable binding systems are required. The cross-orientation of the bindings allows the rider to assume a side-forward stance, which is the necessary positioning for optimal control of the snowboard when going down the hill. While this side-forward positioning is optimal for control on the downhill run, it presents a number of problems between runs.
One solution to the problems is to provide a mechanism that will allow at least one of the bindings to be rotated from the normal transverse angular position to a toe-forward position relative to the snowboard. Then, a rider can adjust the angle before each non-snowboarding use of the snowboard. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,236,216, for example, there is shown a fastening disk that can be clamped upon a binding support plate that can be turned about a normal axis to the board. In order to change the user's foot position, the user must remove his boot from the binding, allowing him to loosen several bolts to allow the rotational position of the binding plate to be changed, then the bolts must be re-tightened. Similarly, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,689 to Carpenter et al., a number of bolts through a hold-down plate for a rotatable binding-support plate must be loosened and then re-tightened in order to change the binding orientation. While the aforementioned binding support systems have their advantages, they all share a major drawback in not allowing angular adjustment of bindings to be made quickly, easily, and conveniently, because they require removal of the boot from the binding in each case, and the use of tools to tighten and loosen the bolts.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,499,837, 5,667,237 and 5,732,959 recognize some of these problems to snowboard bindings and provide alternative locking mechanisms. However, binding mounts of these patents do not address the concern of snow and ice build-up inhibiting the proper operation fo the locking mechanism.
What is needed is a mounting assembly that provides a snowboarder, wakeboarder, or other rider the capability of rapidly and easily changing the orientation of at least one binding-attached foot from a transverse position on such a board to a foot-forward position, thereby enabling a natural position of the knee, foot, and leg during standing, walking, sitting, “skateboarding,” and other activities.